


A Morning

by Axelflow



Series: Traveling [5]
Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Adventure, Cuddling & Snuggling, Early Mornings, F/M, Fluff, Like REALLY Early Morning, Sleep, Travel, cute shit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-18
Updated: 2020-05-18
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:40:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24248926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Axelflow/pseuds/Axelflow
Summary: For those who wanted Rayllum to be more of a slow burnFor all you touch-starved folks out there
Relationships: Callum & Rayla (The Dragon Prince), Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince)
Series: Traveling [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1721650
Comments: 7
Kudos: 84





	A Morning

Rayla wasn’t sure why she was awake. Maybe the snap of a branch or the rustle of a bush pushed her from the landscape of dreams back into the folds of reality. She didn't even care; she just wanted to go back to sleep. Unfortunately, sleep had other ideas and decided to vacate her body the moment she opened her eyes. Once sleep left, bitter cold invited itself into her, taking residence into the furthest crevices of her being.

Rayla silently cursed whatever woke her before pushing herself into a sitting position. She looked over to the previous night's fire. Morning dew glistened on the blackened logs, and the once-present smell of smoke had been smothered by the freshness of morning air. Not even a wisp of an ember remained that Rayla could coax life into. She gave a dissatisfied huff before falling onto her back. Her eyes wandered across the ashen clouds obscuring the night sky and the faint shadow of a halfmoon bleeding light onto the ground beneath it. Her instincts told her it would be several hours before the sun rose. Several hours before a chance at warmth. 

Nope. 

Rayla despised the cold. Sure, she’d toughen through it if necessary, but she absolutely avoided it whenever she could. Recently, avoiding it had become exponentially harder. Katolis seemed to store the damn stuff like a child with their toys. It would show up in the most unexpected place at the strangest of times. She still hadn't forgiven Callum for not mentioning that Katolis weather could bring something known as a “flash freeze” until she woke up one morning with a coating of frost in her hair. Worse, Callum acted like it was perfectly normal and just took out his sketchbook and drew the frozen landscape. Speaking of Callum…

She turned her head to the quietly snoring form of her human companion. Moonlight caught the contours of his face, framing it in ethereal light. A small breeze blew through his hair causing it to curl against his forehead. 

“Kiss him.”

Rayla’s eyes widened in surprise at the directness of her own internal voice. Until now, it had relegated itself to making quick little observations about Callum. The spark of lightning behind his eyes whenever he cast a spell. The incredible deftness of his hand as he drew. The cheerful smile he wore when playing with Zym. The hair tucked behind his ear by his hand when lost in concentration. Small details that only endeared him to her more and more as the days passed. But that voice had always been passive in its words. Apparently all it took was a restless night of sleep to embolden it.

Rayla shook her head in an attempt to clear her head but to no avail. Those two words had planted themselves into her mind with a stubbornness that Rayla unhappily recognized as her own. She crossed her arms in frustration. She was alone with her desires and the cold, and she had no clear way of remedying either. Determined to rid herself of at least one of these problems, she turned back to Callum and gently tugged at the sleeve of his jacket. 

Callum’s eyes fluttered open in response. Sleep still clouded his eyes as he glanced at the pale hand touching him. Realization slowly dawned on him. “Wuz wrong?” Callum mumbled sleepily as he perched himself upright, still not entirely convinced whether the current situation was real or a dream.

“Nothing,” Rayla said without thinking. Seeing Callum with his hair disheveled and hearing his voice almost caused her to act on her impulses. She wanted nothing more than to pull that silly human into a kiss that would last forever. The desire was overpowering, and it took all the willpower Rayla had to tame it. Unfortunately, this left little room for intelligent discussion. 

“Oh. Okay. Goodnight then,” Callum said before flopping back down and closing his eyes. 

“You daft elf, tell him,” Rayla chided herself internally. “We can worry about kissing him later. Right now we just need to be warm.”

“Wait, Callum, that's not true. I’m actually a tad cold and-”

Her words trailed off. Callum was already asleep. She turned onto her side, arms once again crossed in frustration. 

“I’m actually a tad cold, and I wanted to know if I could borrow your scarf or something, but since you’re asleep now, I suppose that won’t be happening,” Rayla continued to herself. Sometimes she didn’t know why she was the way she was. She could climb a 200 foot cliff, leap from treetop to treetop, battle mercenaries hired to capture her, all without feeling even a bit of fear. But asking a boy she had a crush on for his scarf? Apparently that was too much for her to handle.

So entranced was she by her own baffling thought process that she didn’t even notice the sound of shifting clothing or the quiet rustle of a backpack being dragged across the ground. It wasn’t until she felt a pair of arms wrap around her midsection that she began to pay attention.

“This better?” 

Rayla looked down at the gloved hands encircling her waist and she became very aware how close Callum was to her. Confusion, amazement, and embarrassment slammed into her, knocking her thoughts into a frenzy. Her voice was failing her. In fact, everything was failing her. All that remained was a blossoming feeling of overwhelming happiness and comfort. 

“Ray?” 

Callum’s voice sent a shiver down Rayla’s back, shaking her from her trance and freeing her voice and mind from their emotional shackles. Cognitive thought returned, and Ralya’s mind leapt at the opportunity to savor every detail it could. The intoxicating heat of his breath down her neck. The reassuring strength of his arms around her. The rhythm of his breathing against her back. The light touch of his hair against her face. Everything. 

“Yeah. This is better.”

And for the first time on her long and tumultuous journey Rayla felt at ease. At this moment, nothing could trouble her. The cold was barely worth acknowledging now. Not with Callum embracing her. 

“Thank you, Callum,” Rayla whispered as she pushed herself into his chest. She wasn’t sure what tomorrow would bring. She never was. She only knew Callum would be there with her. And that was enough.

**Author's Note:**

> Writing as a form of escapism has become uncomfortably obvious to me over the past couple of months.
> 
> And that concludes the Traveling series. I had a blast with it and I can't wait to write more about these characters. I'll probably do something involving them post season 3 so if for some reason you liked my crap, stay tuned. 
> 
> Special thanks to my fantastic editor, Kiwiqueen. This series wouldn't be half as good without her and it's amazing that's she's put up with my bullshit for so long. You can find her here under the same name so check her stuff out, I promise you won't be disappointed.


End file.
